The GP weight loss 'diet replacement plan' found to keep size down 'for years'

dailyrecord.co.uk:

When it comes to losing weight, it can be just as difficult to know what to do as it is to actually get the weight off.People hoping to slim down have the huge task of sifting through tonnes of diets and expert advice, which, more confusingly, oftentimes contradicts itself.

Not knowing where to start, the simplest step would be to ask your GP. Indeed, a review published in the BMJ last year set out to examine different GP-led weight loss programmes, finding that people who slimmed down with the help of their GP kept around 80% of it off when followed up two years later.

The study found that two programmes that had the greatest weight loss in a year used what's called a total diet replacement plan that replacing food with products like shakes.Two of the study's co-authors — Claire Madigan, a senior research associate of Loughborough University, and Liz Sturgiss, a senior research fellow of Monash University — have written the following explanation in their own words.For people looking to lose weight, it can be hard to know where to start.Not only are there scores of commercial weight loss programmes to choose from, there's also plenty of confusing and contradictory advice to be found online or in magazines.

But the best person to help you lose weight may actually be your family doctor, as our recent review showed. We found that weight loss programmes delivered by general practitioners (GPs) and their teams can help people lose weight and reduce their waist size.